She said "YES!"

While this chapter in our story officially began in July 2015, our fairytale truly started on January 22, 1997 at Largo Library story time. It was there that we met the Durbin's, and our lives were forever changed. Not too many people can say that they met their soulmate when they were merely toddlers, but that is where our story began. My mom & Jake’s mom, became quick friends that day. We spent much of our childhood carpooling to school, having summer pool parties & playing at Largo park. Throughout middle school, we all got together less and less, & when Jake’s family moved to Alabama, we lost touch for many years. The summer of 2015 was one I will never forget. Jake was in Clearwater doing a summer internship. My mom got wind that he was staying just a few miles from our home & decided to invite him to dinner for my 21st birthday. We spent the evening catching up on family at Frenchy’s, and when he left that night, I thought nothing of it. Fast forward a few weeks & Jake invited me to a Ray’s baseball game. I really didn’t want to go-I had never been on a date before-but he was persistent, so I obliged. We ran into some friends, & before the evening was over, Jake invited Sarah and I to Auburn for a football game since he worked for the athletics department. I jokingly told him we would try to make it, but Sarah wasn’t going to let me off the hook! Much to my surprise, we made the drive to Auburn for a home game (shout-out to my wing-woman, otherwise we wouldn’t be here today!). The whole weekend, I tried dropping hints for Jake to hold my hand, but he didn’t catch on, so when he tried to kiss me before I left, I backed away! (whoops!) I told you, this boy is persistent! He didn’t let my timid nature scare him away; we decided to give long-distance dating a try. It was tough, but 5 years and 2 moves across state lines later, here we are – engaged and ready to start our lives together as husband & wife! I can't believe I get to marry the first man I ever dated!

While I sometimes question the actual date of January 22 (who knew 3 year olds had such good memory), I will forever be grateful for the date we first met as kids. Story time, after school studying & summer time pool parties were all so innocently setting the stage for a life long connection. It was fall of 2008 when I learned that my family & I would be placing life on hold and moving to Alabama. This caused us to lose touch for a while, but was only picked-up again my senior year of college. During my senior year at Auburn University, I returned to Clearwater for a summer financial planning internship. Her family learned that I would be in town for a few months & extended the invitation to her 21st birthday party on the beach. I wasn’t exactly sure how this would play out given the lost connection & many years apart from each other, but I am not one to shy away from a good time. Once dinner was done & the pictures were snapped, I knew this could be something. Through work, I received 2 tickets to a Ray's baseball game. A few convincing texts later & we found ourselves in the stands enjoying our first date. Little did we know when leaving that evening, that we would run into more family-friends. I’ll pause here to clarify - In my early years of being an Auburn student, I was given the opportunity to work as lead marketing intern for Auburn Athletics. This came with many perks, the most important of which, for this story, was access to preferred seating for football games. The first date went well, but I knew I needed something to seal the deal. A few months later, Karisa & Sarah accepted my offer to attend a game & enjoy the weekend in Auburn. I knew then that this was more than a story time friendship. After graduation, I moved away to Indianapolis to pursue a career in financial services, and was surprised to learn that she had decided to come along for the journey. Now, after 3 moves & 5 years of dating, I find myself preparing to say I do to my best friend.

We LOVE to travel, so it comes as no surprise to those that know us best that we got engaged on the vacation of a lifetime! Jake is a top-notch travel planner. In February, as soon as I knew I'd get a week off in September, Jake began to plan this elaborate surprise trip. All I was allowed to know were the dates; everything else was a secret. When it came time to pack, he picked out my outfits for each day. I am usually the packer, so I decided to check his suitcase and make sure that he had enough socks for 10 days away. BAD IDEA, because I almost blew the surprise! We got to the airport and he handed me my first boarding pass - Seattle, WA!! As we went through security, his carryon got put through the machine 3 times and he silently freaked out that they would open his bag (insider secret: the ring was in there!). Luckily, we made it through without anyone spilling the beans. We got in late that night and headed to bed. The next morning, we got up early and start to drive. He told me I needed my passport; we were headed to Vancouver, BC, Canada! The line at the border was long, and Jake became increasingly more nervous as we got closer to crossing. We finally got through and drove to Queen Elizabeth State Park. It was BEAUTIFUL! We wandered around for a while, waiting for our "lunch reservation" time. I was smelling the roses in the rose garden when I come upon a bouquet of a dozen roses on the ground. I pointed to them and asked Jake why someone would just leave roses on the ground, just as he was picking them up. He handed them to me and said, “actually, those are for you.” He got down on one knee, pulled a ring box out of his boot and asked me to marry him! I. WAS. SHOCKED! Of course, I said "YES" through some tears! The rest of the week was spent celebrating our engagement in Vancouver, Whistler, Seattle, Chicago and Indianapolis. It was the trip of a lifetime and one I will NEVER forget! I can't wait to spend the rest of my life going on adventures together!